iPhone 10 Years Anniversary Model – Will It Suck?

It has been 10 years since the release of the first iPhone and the expectations are huge for the anniversary model, especially that Apple did not enhanced it's top selling product design since the iPhone 6 (mind the headphone jack ditch). Will Tim Cook live up to the expectation and deliver a truly revolutionary iPhone or will he play it safe? Let's see.

iPhone 8 Concept

iPhone 8 or iPhone 10?

Everyone is expecting the iPhone 8 with a new design and cool features and all are hoping to see breakthrough features and design. All are fearing of the announcement of the iPhone 7s which basically means that there will be no design changes but only speck bumps.
There is also an unlikely possibility that Apple will skip two versions and jump directly to iPhone 10 for it's 10 years anniversary. Microsoft did it for it's operating system, true, for different reasons, but there is a precedent. However, it's pretty much depending on how Tim Cook wants to play this game, and he is not Steve Jobs. This brings us to the next point.

Expectation versus Reality

All leaked information lead us to believe there there will be a bezel-less phone with wireless charging and embedded Touch ID sensor. OLED display is kind of confirmed as well. Perhaps even a USB type C port? Who knows.

However...

Apple recently reported a "record breaking quarter" especially for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 plus sales. "Company posted all-time record quarterly revenue of $78.4 billion" translated into 78.3 million iPhones sold. All this considering the relatively negative perception of the iPhone 7 since it's design was not changed in the past two year. Not to mention the headphone jack ditch.

Apple's new MacBook Pro line had even worse reviews after ditching all the ports in favor of Thunderbolt 3 (USB Type C), the function keys, the MagSafe connection and even the logo illumination. There are even complains that the cable delivered with the new MacBook Pro is for Thunderbolt 2 so many options are not available without purchasing a new cable. Yet again, the sales of the new MacBook Pro brought profit to Apple after many years!

One thing is clear, Tim Cook knows how to make money and even though many complain about the fact the apple has lost all it's "PRO" features in their devices, Apple might consider "Pro" users a niche and turn away from them to a much bigger market, at least that's what the figures and their actions are showing lately.

Considering the above, it is very likely that in reality the iPhone 8 to be very much cost oriented, unlike Steve Jobs's approach when he was introducing a groundbreaking device costing up to five times more as "similar" devices on the market. This might lead us to very few major changes in terms of design and hardware, especially after it's main competitor, Samsung's battery issues with the Galaxy Note 7. You can imagine that all phone producers think about playing safe now and, coincidence or not, there is also a reported iPhone caught on fire lately.

Operating System

Fortunately for some and unfortunately for others, iOS might take a step further with the similarities with Android. This is something that we've noticed lately and the reason might be the same as stated above. If Apple targets a much bigger audience, many of them are already familiar with Android so the OS must be familiar as well. Hence the similarities lately AND the bigger screens that are on demand for Android users. Beside a more widgetized and customizable iOS we think we might expect even bigger screens as well.

In conclusion, it remains to be seen if Apple will gamble with the upcoming iPhone 8, or it will play safe, but it's perhaps better to lower your expectations and this way you can only be pleasantly surprised.